Energy Snag

[Anchor Lead]

Korea could face an energy shortage next year as construction at the new Shin-Kori 3 and 4 reactors has hit a major snag. Cables installed there have been deemed substandard and must be replaced.

[Pkg]

Cables at the Shin-Kori 3 and 4 reactors were found to be faulty. The cables are used to supply electricity or transmit control signals. They have to withstand high temperatures. In a performance test, the cables were put in a 815 degrees Celsius fire for 20 minutes. They weren't supposed to catch fire but the cables failed to pass the test. This means the cables should be replaced with new ones. The installation of the substandard cables cost more than eleven-point-two million U.S. dollars. The replacement will delay the construction of the reactors, which is scheduled to be completed by the summer of next year. It will take six months to remove and replace the cables alone. More time will be needed for producing and testing them. As a result the construction will likely be postponed by a year or two.

[Soundbite] Jeon Yong-gap (Vice President, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company) : "We’ll employ all possible means for a safe and swift replacement of the cables. We’ll do our best."

The delay of the reactor construction indicates an inevitable shortage of energy supply next summer. Those who oppose building power transmission towers and lines in Milyang, South Gyeongsang Province are demanding an end to the construction, noting the delay in the launch of the Shin-Kori 3 reactor. The government, however, says it has no plans to end the Milyang project and will do its best to devise measures that will keep energy supply and demand in balance next summer.

2. Network Infiltration

[Anchor Lead]

In a case of modern-day espionage and intrigue, a bureau of North Korea’s Worker’s Party operating in China infiltrated a South Korean IT firm there, hacking into its computer system.

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This building in downtown Beijing houses a bogus firm run by the North Korean Workers' Party's Bureau 225. An investigation conducted by South Korea's National Intelligence Service has found that a North Korean agent working for the firm approached the Chinese office of a South Korean IT company. The agent hired the husband of one of the firm's employees to work for the North Korean firm in a bid to approach his wife. The agent went on to obtain the woman's identification number and password to access the IT firm's computer system. The National Intelligence Service says that the agent accessed the computer network more than 200 times using the woman's ID. It's the first time that North Korea was found to have accessed the computer system of a South Korean company. The South Korean IT firm develops information grids for major South Korean organizations. North Korea's hacking could have been aimed at penetrating the South Korean government's computer network.

[Soundbite] IT Firm Official : "The head office in Korea and its overseas offices are run separately. All important data are blocked by other systems, so we believe no significant damage has been caused."

Prosecutors have received probe results from the spy agency but they say that investigating the matter further would be difficult, as the IT firm is located in China and the involved female employee is a Chinese national. However, they remain on high alert as North Korea could make more cyberattacks via overseas corporations.

3. Question of Safety

[Anchor Lead]

New developments surrounding an incident at a Hyosung Group LCD film plant, where authorities knew the plant was operating before construction was complete. KBS brings you this investigative report.

[Pkg]

This is the Hyosung plant that went into operation before having been approved for a completed construction. It's been confirmed that basic fire protection facilities are not installed here. In total, the company received five facility installment permits from fire authorities related to the handling of harmful chemicals. But three of them had never been verified after this, which makes operating the plant illegal. KBS found that a local fire station received a call about the illegal plant operations on the 14th but took no measures.

[Soundbite] Fire Station Official (Voice Modified) : "A call came in saying the plant was being run without fire protection facilities in place. (Shouldn't you have inspected the site?) Well…"

Since KBS' report, the company is allegedly trying to discover the whistle blower who leaked the story by demanding that a subcontractor employee disclose his or her mobile phone number. The North Chungcheong Province and labor authorities are looking into the case. The fire station has also confirmed its misconduct and is taking disciplinary measures against the workers in question.

4. Political Priorities

[Anchor Lead]

Councilors around the country are preparing for next year’s local elections, but they are facing criticism for focusing so much attention on campaigning, and not enough on fulfilling their duties.

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The industrial committee of the Chuncheon City Council held a meeting at 9:30 a.m. on October 11. The meeting began a half hour earlier than originally scheduled. It took the participating councilors less than five minutes to approve all of the pending bills. The bills were reviewed the day before, but their passage was delayed due to quorum shortage, as many of the committee members failed to show up for voting.

[Soundbite] Park Wan-ju (Member, Chuncheon City Council) : "I’m asking you all to cooperate to prevent what happened yesterday."

The committee members began to leave the conference venue one after another in less than an hour after promising to do their best to fulfill their duties. After the meeting they all headed to a local event. It was attended by more than a thousand local residents. The councilors were busy introducing and promoting themselves to voters.

[Soundbite] Yu Seong-cheol (Secretary-General, Chuncheon People’s Solidarity) : "They’re intent on promoting themselves to voters at local events. Regional politics is seriously distorted."

One of the councilors was spotted giving cash to voters as a gift in the yard of the council building. Many councilors leave their seats during council sessions for a long time making phone calls. With no one keeping tabs on local councilors, their determination to fulfill their duties seems to be losing momentum.

5. Reform Reaction

[Anchor Lead]

More and more people around the country are withdrawing from their national pension accounts after a new reform. People believe the longer they subscribe the less benefit they’ll receive in the end.

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Whenever a pension-related government announcement is made, people responding most sensitively to the measures are those who spontaneously join the pension scheme and those who are free to leave. Since the government finalized a separate basic pension plan for the elderly on September 25, a daily average of 365 of those that registered withdrew their plan. Excluding those who switched over to a job or regional-based pension plan as they began earning income, voluntary withdrawals add up to 180 of this total amount, double the average of the past five years. It's clear that more people are opting out as the national and senior pension plans are correlated. In fact, earlier this year, when the plan to link the two were first proposed and also when the presidential transition committee suggested that senior benefits were different according to one's income and the length of their national pension subscription, voluntary withdrawals began to increase. The National Pension Service says this trend is now easing.

[Soundbite] Jeong Jeong-tae (National Pension Service) : "Since the government's announcement, ithdrawals have dropped to around half. We're receiving some 200 new subscriptions each day."

If a senior citizen cancels his or her national pension to receive more from the basic pension plan, the aggregate pension payment received in later life will turn out to be smaller. So it's better to keep the national pension plan as long as possible. To keep national pension as is, the government and lawmakers must also take measures implying to the public that a longer subscription won't lead to financial loss.

6. Tourist Beat

[Anchor Lead]

A new police squad is on the tourist beat at major tourist spots in Seoul. Their task is to reduce the inconveniences tourists face on their visit.

[Pkg]

Taxicab drivers overcharging foreign passengers by manipulating taxi meters.

[Soundbite] Cosmetic Salesperson (Voice Modified) : "This product has an excellent whitening effect. It costs 1,500 yuan (US$245)."

Salesclerks selling no-name cosmetic products for hundreds of dollars to Chinese tourists, all this makes a bad impression of Korea in the eyes of foreigners. A new police unit dubbed "tourist police" has been launched recently to fix the problem. The squad consists of 101 police officers fluent in English, Chinese and Japanese. The squad will crack down on merchants overcharging tourists or refusing to refund taxes. They will also help tourists by providing them with information on traveling. Tourist police will be first dispatched to famous attractions in Seoul, such as Myeongdong, Itaewon and Hongik University area. Incheon and Busan will launch their tourist police units next year.

[Soundbite]

Ins. Kim Sang-yeong (Tourist Police) : "I promise that tourist police will work to provide the best security service to foreign tourists in Korea."

Tourist police units in 27 countries including Greece and Thailand have been lauded for improving their countries' reputations.

7. Young Harvest

[Anchor Lead]

Young students at an elementary school in Seoul are cultivating rice of their own. Now it’s time for harvest. Let’s have a look.

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This is an elementary school around Mount Dobong in Seoul. Students parade to the farmer's band music that was played to wish for a plentiful harvest and attain an eco-friendly rice paddy. The students planted the rice plants here and now the rice grains have ripened to a golden brown. They follow the teacher's directions and cut the rice stalks. The children have an enjoyable time, despite their feet getting caught in the mud and having a hard time using a scythe.

[Soundbite] Kim So-hyang (Elementary School Student) : "It's amazing and fun that we can do this in the city instead of the countryside."

After the harvest, they learn how the rice grains are combed out. After all the hard work, they wash up at the stream and have a snack, reflecting on a farmer's life.

[Soundbite] Lee Jin-seong (Elementary School Student) : "I usually have hamburgers and pizza. But I'm going to eat more rice now that I know how hard growing it is."

The school students have run this rice paddy for three years. Through this experience, the urban children have learned the joy of harvesting in the fall.

8. Entertainment News

[Anchor Lead]

Popular boy band U-KISS has lost a member and singer Cho Yong-pil has released a Japanese version of his 19th album. Here’s more from the world of show business.

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The agency of the boy band U-KISS said that one of its members, Dong-ho, is to suspend his singing career. Dong-ho will not participate in the band's upcoming album, which is to be released this month. The agency said it decided to accept Dong-ho's decision because he had a hard time adapting to show business and wanted to live a normal life. The legendary singer Cho Yong-pil has released the Japanese version of his 19th album. The Japanese version of the title track entitled "Hello" features rapping by Ok Taec-yeon, who is a member of the boy band 2PM. The album producer said that 600 copies of the album released in Japan will be sold in Korea. Singer Eru, who is popular in Indonesia, performed the original soundtrack of the KBS TV show "Secret." It's a song about the pain of lost love.

9. The Scoop on MSG

[Anchor Lead]

Monosodium Glutamate, more notoriously known as MSG, has a terrible reputation for its affects on health. But could this perception be overblown? We get the inside scoop on MSG.

[Pkg]

The controversy over the concentrated salt MSG began in the U.S. in the late 1960s. Claims that consuming large servings of MSG would cause headaches, muscle spasms and nausea entered the public consciousness. Studies thereafter have dispelled this correlation.

[Soundbite] Prof. Lee Deok-hwan (Sogang University) : "Some 2,000 research papers have so far confirmed that for a healthy person, moderate amounts of MSG won't cause any particular problem. Food regulators in nearly all countries in the world say MSG is safe to consume."

Others claimed MSG impacts the nervous system. But studies have shown glutamic acid acts as a neurotransmitter. Experts say the acid regulates the density of MSG transmitted to the brain below a certain level, preventing issues. Another popular belief is that naturally forming MSG is healthier than the artificially manufactured substance. The MSG added to seasonings we eat is made with fermented sugar cane. It's a naturally occurring extract of glutamic acid.

[Soundbite] Prof. Gwon Hun-jeong (Seoul National University) : "MSG is glutamic acid neutralized with sodium. It's been solidified into powder form to make storage and sale easy. But melted in water, it's the same thing."

MSG does not accumulate inside the body. It's consumed as energy. And the Korea Food & Drug Administration and the World Health Organization have not set limits on daily MSG consumption. There is one serious drawback to MSG. Restaurants can use MSG to enhance the flavor of food made with cheap, low quality ingredients. At this famous Naengmyeon, or cold noodle restaurant, the broth is made from meat stock.

[Soundbite] Yun Hye-ja (Owner, Naengmyeon Restaurant) : "The beef must be 100% domestic beef, Hanu. Otherwise, the stock won't be delicious."

But even they say a little MSG is essential.

[Soundbite] "A little bit of MSG seasoning is necessary for taste."

Many eateries conceal their use of MSG due to public resistance. Consumers should have access to accurate information on what they're buying or eating to make informed decisions.

[Soundbite] Mun Min-sik (Customer) : "I believe all restaurants use MSG and being honest about it is more appealing I think, like this restaurant."

[Soundbite] "I've cooked this dish for years and take pride in it. People want a consistent taste and they like what I make so I continue to use it."

With an estimated 90 percent of restaurants relying on MSG, consumers today are accustomed to the taste. The pity is that this additive has smothered the natural taste of the ingredients. There's little need to overreact to a little MSG here or there, but its your responsibility to be vigilant about what goes into your body.